Former councilman stands by his charges to the district's attorneys

Service: “Discussion with newly-elected San Diego School Board member Scott Barnett on perceptions of SUHSD, SEA, and comparisons of SD situation vs. SUHSD, including outlook on state budget and district cuts.”

Account: “I know I did not meet on that date,” Barnett said. “And I am certainly not keeping any meetings with Scott confidential of any sort. I met with him during the election sometime and have not met with him since that time, and did not discuss Sweetwater.” Barnett added that he did not know Alevy was working for Sweetwater. Barnett said he did meet Alevy for lunch several months earlier, on July 21.

Date: Dec. 4

Duration: 2 hours

Charge: $500

Service: “Discussions with retired counselor and former union president Mike Pineda, former administrators Fred Ferguson, Jim Hansen and Bob Strahl on perceptions of district and union issues.”

Account: Ferguson said he may have run into Alevy at a Chula Vista golf club that day while with the others, whom he called his “golfing buddies.” He said he had nothing on his calendar and didn’t remember discussing the school district. Former Sweetwater administrator Bob Strahl said he did not remember any discussion of the school district. Both expressed surprise that the school district was billed for the brief exchange. When asked if the conversations were confidential, both said, “Absolutely not.” “There’s no way we had any confidential discussions about Sweetwater or the district or labor,” Strahl said.

Date: Jan. 6

Duration: 2 hours

Charge: $500

Service: “Discussion with Jesus Gandara on article in Union-Tribune and response to media inquiry on Texas issue and implications. Draft response. Wrote and placed two letters to editor.”

Account: Gandara at first said he never had a conversation with Alevy about his family’s legal problems in Texas. He later said he had a two-minute conversation with Alevy about the subject. He said he was unaware of any billings on the matter. After The Watchdog informed him of the line item, he checked into it and said the district is seeking reimbursement for $62 for the charge. “That charge is not acceptable to me,” he said.

Date: Feb. 7

Duration: 0.75 hours

Charge: $187.50

Service: “Discussion with Labor leaders Johnny Simpson and Tom Lemmon of Construction Trades on district projects, employment and perceptions of district’s unions.”

Account: Lemmon, business manager for the San Diego Building & Construction Trades Council, said his organization does have Alevy’s other communications firm, Trilogy PR, on retainer, but that no meeting took place on Feb. 7. He said he does not recall speaking about the Sweetwater district. He also was unaware Alevy was working for the district’s legal team. “It’s fair to say we talked about a lot of things. We have had several meetings, but I thought they were all on my dime,” Lemmon said. “I don’t ever specifically remember talking about Sweetwater with him. ... I don’t recall anything that would be billable.”